Month: June 2019

The Crypto Week Bitcoin Leads the Way as Volatility Grips the Majors

The Crypto Week – Bitcoin Leads the Way as Volatility Grips the Majors

The Crypto Week – Bitcoin Leads the Way as Volatility Grips the Majors

Bitcoin is on the move early but will need the support of the broader market to take a run at $13,000 levels…

While the Bitcoin bulls maintained control, it has been a mixed week for the rest of the pack.

Bitcoin fell by 3.38% on Saturday. Partially reversing a 10.18% rally from Friday, Bitcoin ended the day at $11,920.

A bearish start to the day saw Bitcoin slide from an intraday high $12,338 to an early morning intraday low $11,354.

Bitcoin steered clear of the first major support level at $11,285.67 and the 23.6% FIB of $11,275 before finding support.

Recovering through the remainder of the day, Bitcoin moved back through to $12,000 levels before a late pullback.

For the current week, Bitcoin was up by 9.3%, which came off the back of 4 days in the green out of the last 6.

The Rest of the Pack

Across the rest of the top 10 cryptos, it was a bullish start to the weekend, leaving Bitcoin to buck the trend on the day.

Across the rest of the majors, Litecoin led the way, rallying by 11.6% to reverse most of a Thursday 12.6% sell-off.

Stellar’s Lumen (+3.87%), EOS (+2.59%), and Ethereum (+2.46%) saw solid gains on the day.

For the current week, Bitcoin led the way with its 9.3% rally, Monday through Saturday.

Stellar’s Lumen and Ethereum were also in the green for the current week, with gains of 8% and 3.3% respectively.

The rest of the pack were in the red, however, with a broad-based crypto sell-off doing the damage on Thursday.

Leading the way down was EOS, which tumbled by 13%. Bitcoin Cash SV and Ripple’s XRP also saw heavy losses, with declines of 10.2% and 9.4% respectively.

Bitcoin Cash ABC (-6.34%), Binance Coin (-4.35%) and Litecoin (-2.52%) saw more modest losses on the week.

A choppy week saw the total crypto market cap rise from $324bn to a Thursday high $386.6bn before easing back. At the time of writing, the total crypto market cap stood at $344.83bn.

24-hour trading volumes were also on the up, rising from $70.7bn levels to hit $140bn levels on Thursday. At the time of writing, 24-hour trading volumes stood at $88.43bn.

This Morning

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was up by 1.88% to $12,144.0.

A bullish start to the day saw Bitcoin rise from a morning low $11,920 to a high $12,193 before easing back.

Bitcoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

Across the rest of the majors, it was a mixed start to the day. Ethereum (+0.71%), EOS (+0.22%), Ripple’s XRP (+0.22%) and Bitcoin Cash ABC (+0.66%) were in positive territory.

On the slide, however, were Stellar’s Lumen (-1.2%), Litecoin (-0.98%), and Binance Coin (-1.64%).

Bitcoin Cash SV was flat with just a 0.05% loss at the time of writing.

For the Day Ahead

Bitcoin would need to hold onto $12,000 levels through the morning to support another run at the first major resistance level at $12,390.33.

An early move through the morning high $12,193 to $12,200 levels would signal the start of a more material rally on the day.

Bitcoin would need the support of the broader market for a break out from the first major resistance level. Barring a broad-based crypto rally, Bitcoin will likely come up short of the second major resistance level at $12,860.67.

Failure to hold onto $12,000 levels could see Bitcoin hit reverse. A fall through to $11,850 levels would bring the first major support level at $11,397.33 into play.

Barring a broad-based crypto sell-off, Bitcoin should steer clear of sub-$11,000 support levels on the day.

 

Bob Mason

Jun 30, 2019 3:32 AM GMT

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

The Crypto Week – Bitcoin Leads the Way as Volatility Grips the Majors

The Crypto Week – Bitcoin Leads the Way as Volatility Grips the Majors

The Crypto Week – Bitcoin Leads the Way as Volatility Grips the Majors

Bitcoin is on the move early but will need the support of the broader market to take a run at $13,000 levels…

While the Bitcoin bulls maintained control, it has been a mixed week for the rest of the pack.

Bitcoin fell by 3.38% on Saturday. Partially reversing a 10.18% rally from Friday, Bitcoin ended the day at $11,920.

A bearish start to the day saw Bitcoin slide from an intraday high $12,338 to an early morning intraday low $11,354.

Bitcoin steered clear of the first major support level at $11,285.67 and the 23.6% FIB of $11,275 before finding support.

Recovering through the remainder of the day, Bitcoin moved back through to $12,000 levels before a late pullback.

For the current week, Bitcoin was up by 9.3%, which came off the back of 4 days in the green out of the last 6.

The Rest of the Pack

Across the rest of the top 10 cryptos, it was a bullish start to the weekend, leaving Bitcoin to buck the trend on the day.

Across the rest of the majors, Litecoin led the way, rallying by 11.6% to reverse most of a Thursday 12.6% sell-off.

Stellar’s Lumen (+3.87%), EOS (+2.59%), and Ethereum (+2.46%) saw solid gains on the day.

For the current week, Bitcoin led the way with its 9.3% rally, Monday through Saturday.

Stellar’s Lumen and Ethereum were also in the green for the current week, with gains of 8% and 3.3% respectively.

The rest of the pack were in the red, however, with a broad-based crypto sell-off doing the damage on Thursday.

Leading the way down was EOS, which tumbled by 13%. Bitcoin Cash SV and Ripple’s XRP also saw heavy losses, with declines of 10.2% and 9.4% respectively.

Bitcoin Cash ABC (-6.34%), Binance Coin (-4.35%) and Litecoin (-2.52%) saw more modest losses on the week.

A choppy week saw the total crypto market cap rise from $324bn to a Thursday high $386.6bn before easing back. At the time of writing, the total crypto market cap stood at $344.83bn.

24-hour trading volumes were also on the up, rising from $70.7bn levels to hit $140bn levels on Thursday. At the time of writing, 24-hour trading volumes stood at $88.43bn.

This Morning

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was up by 1.88% to $12,144.0.

A bullish start to the day saw Bitcoin rise from a morning low $11,920 to a high $12,193 before easing back.

Bitcoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

Across the rest of the majors, it was a mixed start to the day. Ethereum (+0.71%), EOS (+0.22%), Ripple’s XRP (+0.22%) and Bitcoin Cash ABC (+0.66%) were in positive territory.

On the slide, however, were Stellar’s Lumen (-1.2%), Litecoin (-0.98%), and Binance Coin (-1.64%).

Bitcoin Cash SV was flat with just a 0.05% loss at the time of writing.

For the Day Ahead

Bitcoin would need to hold onto $12,000 levels through the morning to support another run at the first major resistance level at $12,390.33.

An early move through the morning high $12,193 to $12,200 levels would signal the start of a more material rally on the day.

Bitcoin would need the support of the broader market for a break out from the first major resistance level. Barring a broad-based crypto rally, Bitcoin will likely come up short of the second major resistance level at $12,860.67.

Failure to hold onto $12,000 levels could see Bitcoin hit reverse. A fall through to $11,850 levels would bring the first major support level at $11,397.33 into play.

Barring a broad-based crypto sell-off, Bitcoin should steer clear of sub-$11,000 support levels on the day.

 

Bob Mason

Jun 30, 2019 3:32 AM GMT

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Bitcoin’s second coming makes Wall Street think again on crypto

Bitcoin's second coming makes Wall Street think again on crypto

Bitcoin’s second coming makes Wall Street think again on crypto

 

After bitcoin fizzled and popped early last year, Wall Street seemed to lose interest. Goldman Sachs went quiet on plans to open a desk trading digital assets as the price of the cryptocurrency plummeted, falling as much as 80 per cent. In October last year JPMorgan Chase chief Jamie Dimon doubled down on his initial scepticism, saying he did not “give a shit” about bitcoin at a conference.

But now that prices for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have climbed back up, some senior figures in the financial services industry are thinking again, wondering whether it was the spike or the crash that was the anomaly. Flow Traders, an Amsterdam-based listed trading firm specialising in exchange-traded products, announced in April it was adding cryptocurrencies to its line-up. Last month a group of 50 companies including Jump Trading and DRW — two high-frequency trading houses — and Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital, a crypto merchant bank, formed a group to develop a “deep, efficient and secure” market.

“Over the past two years we have seen evidence building that bitcoin is an uncorrelated asset class so it makes sense to add it to portfolios,” said Marcus Swanepoel, a former Morgan Stanley and Standard Chartered banker now running Luno, a crypto company.

Bitcoin’s trajectory has certainly been eye-catching. Its price has more than doubled in two months, finishing the week around $11,800. This is some way off the highs of late 2017, but enthusiasts say the rally will continue.

Chief among the reasons offered by bulls are Facebook’s recent announcement that it will launch a new digital currency next year — which came a few months after JPMorgan created its own “coin” for payments — and a sharp turn in monetary policy from the US central bank. Along with dovish noises from the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan, that has helped drive the value of negative-yielding debt around the world to about $12.7tn, according to data tallied by Bloomberg and Barclays. In that context, yield-less gold looks appealing — as does bitcoin.

“There is a lot of demand coming from Asia and Japan where bitcoin represents a wave of hope against a deflationary monetary environment,” said David Mercer, chief executive of LMAX Exchange, a currency-trading platform with about $400m a day in crypto volumes, which started offering cryptocurrencies last year. “It’s become a safe haven of the digital space.”

While demand for crypto remains driven by retail investors, particularly in Asia, institutional practitioners are increasingly getting involved, drawn by fat spreads and increasing volumes. According to Mr Mercer, six of the largest high-frequency traders on LMAX’s fiat-currency platform are active in the crypto market as well.

In public, big banks remain wary, although a head of electronic trading at a large US lender said traders would jump at the opportunity to trade crypto — a market with a total capitalisation of $336bn — if given the chance. Jan Strømme, a veteran of currency markets, set up a crypto-focused trading firm Alphaplate in August. He says young programmers and quantitative traders are shunning careers at banks to work at crypto-focused companies as interest from institutional traders picks up.

Graham Rodford, founder and chief executive of Archax, another crypto platform, started trading bitcoin six years ago as a side project from his day job as head of compliance at Omni Partners, a London-based hedge fund. A former head of operations at HSBC, he is betting that in the future hedge funds will do their fundraising through platforms such as Archax, and will trade all asset classes — including stock and bonds — in digital form.

“We have come a long way in terms of the market structure already with skilled professionals from the traditional world moving into this new emerging world and bringing with them a wealth of experience,” he said.

Arch critic Nouriel Roubini, who described crypto in May as “the mother and father of all bubbles”, is engaging in debate. Next week he is due to go head to head in Taiwan with Arthur Hayes, the founder of crypto exchange BitMex, and a former equities trader at Citi and Deutsche Bank, in an event billed as “the Tangle in Taipei”.

To Mr Swanepoel, the world is slowly moving towards a new monetary system. He believes his firm will soon be competing with the biggest banks, as the underpinnings of the financial system undergo a radical shift.

“The holy grail of the internet is to be able to move value peer-to-peer safely and securely and we can do this now with blockchain technology,” he said. “We just don’t yet know if it’s money or bitcoin or something else we should be moving around.”

Mr Mercer agrees. “Today the most efficient way to move money to Australia is to get on a plane and fly there with a suitcase,” he said. “This is clearly not going to last if you believe in blockchain technology.”

 

Eva Szalay Financial Times

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Bitcoin almost wipes out its mega gain just as swiftly as it came

 

Bitcoin almost wipes out its mega gain just as swiftly as it came

  • Bitcoin's retreat accelerated Thursday and put the coin’s price back to nearly the same level as just five days ago

  • Alternative coins also fell Thursday, with both Ether and Litecoin dropping 14%

 

NEW YORK: Bitcoin’s rise was meteoric this week — and its decline has been just as swift.

It’s easy come, easy go in the crypto world, where a frenzy over Bitcoin pushed its price to nearly $14,000 on Wednesday, its highest level since January 2018. The largest digital asset then reversed course in a matter of minutes after a prominent cryptocurrency exchange reported an outage. The retreat accelerated Thursday and put the coin’s price back to nearly the same level as just five days ago.

The jump in prices brought back memories of the crypto bubble that burst at the end of 2017, when Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies — beset by regulatory setbacks and fraud-related issues — fell from grace. Bitcoin’s price, for instance, languished around $3,600 just six months ago.

Crypto bulls were heartened this year after numerous Wall Street mainstays showed increased interest and wider acceptance of cryptocurrencies and their underlying blockchain technology, helping to push prices higher. Things turned parabolic earlier this month when Facebook Inc. unveiled plans for its own digital currency — many proponents cited the move as long-sought validation of the potential digital assets have to drastically alter the global financial system.

But Thursday’s reversal prompted one of Bitcoin’s biggest proponents, Mike Novogratz, to lament on not having taken more money off the table before the coin lost nearly all its gains. That may have contributed to its swift demise, according to John Spallanzani, portfolio manager at Miller Value Partners.

It’s a very “tight-knit market," said Spallanzani. “Most likely Novo hitting bids spread like wildfire."

Bitcoin dropped as much as 19% on Thursday, paring the loss to 16% at the end of the day. It was up 4.2% to $11,137 as of 10:50 a.m. in Hong Kong on Friday. Volatility is near the highest levels since early 2018, when the crypto bubble was bursting.

“It seems the crypto market got a bit too hot yesterday and is now cooling down," wrote Mati Greenspan, senior market analyst at trading platform eToro, in a note. “What an incredible market where the price can crash about 15% in less than an hour and bring us back to the highs of the previous trading day."

Alternative coins also fell Thursday, with both Ether and Litecoin dropping 14%. The Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index, which tracks some of the largest digital assets, dropped 19%.

 

Updated: 28 Jun 2019, 09:07 AM IST

Vildana Hajric , Bloomberg

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Bitcoin price prediction – Bulls must rally together to re-enter the $13,000 zone – Confluence Detector

Bitcoin price prediction - Bulls must rally together to re-enter the $13,000 zone - Confluence Detector

Bitcoin price prediction – Bulls must rally together to re-enter the $13,000 zone – Confluence Detector

 

  • BTC/USD has gone down from $12,850 to $12,715 in the early hours of Thursday.

  • Bulls will need to overcome the $12,800 resistance level.

Bitcoin has had a bearish breakout this Thursday as the price has gone down from $12,850 to $12,715. The price fell following the Coinbase outage. The bulls will want to rally together and re-enter the $13,000-zone. However, the confluence detector shows us that there is a healthy resistance level at $12,800.

BTC/USD daily confluence detector

The two resistance levels are at $12,800 and $13,025. The $12,800 has no confluences while the $13,025 has the daily 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level.
 

There is only one support level at $12,500, which has the daily 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level.

 

Rajarshi Mitra

FXStreet

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Bitcoin tops $12,000 for the first time January 2018

Bitcoin tops $12,000 for the first time January 2018

Bitcoin tops $12,000 for the first time January 2018

On a year-to-date basis, bitcoin has risen 216 per cent to $12,155 on June 26 against $3843.52 on January 1.

NEW DELHI: Bitcoin prices surpassed $12,000 on Wednesday for the first time since January 2018. The interest in the cryptocurrency rose after Facebook unveiled its own digital unit Libra.

On a year-to-date basis, bitcoin has risen 216 per cent to $12,155 on June 26 against $3843.52 on January 1. The currency is still way below its record level of $20,000 witnessed at the end of 2017.

On the other hand, the benchmark equity indices BSE Sensex has gained nearly 9 per cent this ye ..

However, holding, selling or dealing in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin could soon land you in jail for 10 years in India.

The "Banning of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2019" draft has proposed 10-year prison sentence for persons who "mine, generate, hold, sell, transfer, dispose, issue or deal in cryptocurrencies, according to a report by IANS on June 7.

Besides making it completely illegal, the bill makes holding of cryptos a non-bailable offence.

A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography for security and is generally based on blockchain technology, a distributed ledger enforced by a disparate network of computers. Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency in the world.

Facebook plans to launch Libra next year, with the backing by a basket of real-world currencies and a consortium of companies including Visa, MasterCard, PayPal and Uber.

 

 

ETMarkets.com|Jun 26, 2019, 10.10 AM IST

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Bitcoin Passes $11,000 Mark, Nears 15-Month High on Facebook Libra, Other News

Bitcoin Passes $11,000 Mark, Nears 15-Month High on Facebook Libra, Other News

Bitcoin Passes $11,000 Mark, Nears 15-Month High on Facebook Libra, Other News

Bitcoin is back, doubling in value in just two months time and raising the prospect of another speculative bubble.

Bitcoin is in the news again, jumping passing the $11,000 mark this weekend and approaching the highest value the cryptocurrency has seen in 15-months after the announcement of Facebook's Libra quasi-cryptocurrency and other market forces.

Cryptocurrencies Bounce Back After Initial Post-Bubble Drop

Bitcoin hit a high of $11,307.69 Sunday evening, posting a more than 20% gain in just one week, according to a new report by CNBC. Prices drew back a bit on Monday, wavering above and below the $11,000 mark all afternoon, priced around $11,070 as of Monday evening.

RELATED: PEOPLE ARE MORTGAGING THEIR HOMES TO GET IN ON BITCOIN ACTION

The sudden jump for the world's first and largest cryptocurrency has a lot to do with the announcement last week of Facebook's 'Libra' digital currency, which reintroduced cryptocurrencies to public consciousness a year and a half after they burst onto the scene with reports of wild, 1000% gains and overnight Bitcoin millionaires. Those reports, in turn, drove further speculation in the cryptocurrency markets, creating a bubble that popped soon after as sell-offs at the height of the craze drove prices into a tailspin as speculators rushed to realize gains they had made on Bitcoin's rise.

After a year and a half hovering in the three-to-five-thousand range, Bitcoin's price is seeing some real action again, doubling in value in just under two months and nearly quadrupling in value just this last year.

There are several reasons for the rise in value, according to analysts. Some say that the rise is due to Bitcoin being seen more as a "safe-haven" asset, rather than a speculative investment.

"There’s a broader understanding of crypto as an asset class,” Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire told CNBC's “Squawk Box” program on Monday. “Anticipation that next generation of blockchains, including what we heard about last week with Libra Association, really indicates what is ultimately going to be a massive mainstream phenomenon touching billions of people."

Forbes points out that much of the current rise in Bitcoin's value may be tied to events in India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's monetary policy was criticized for appearing to cause chaos in the country in 2016 when his government banned high-value bank notes and a more recent crackdown on internet services like Telegram and Reddit turn people's attention to more decentralized internet services like cryptocurrencies.

The Indian government has proposed banning cryptocurrencies in the country, which could actually be driving more people to cryptocurrencies in the country. In India, Bitcoin is currently trading at a $500 premium.

Facebook's announcement that it will be participating in the Libra Association's digital cryptocurrency–though some cryptocurrency purists have argued that Libra doesn't qualify as a true cryptocurrency since it is not censorship-resistant–clearly contributed to Bitcoin's sudden spike in value as well. Putting its industrial weight behind the principle of cryptocurrencies helps shore up doubts about the value of cryptocurrencies as an asset and may be giving investors some level of reassurance that cryptocurrencies aren't just some dodgy, fake Internet money.

Still, the sudden price spike in Bitcoin can't help but recall its infamous surge in the fall of 2017 and its spectacular collapse in value beginning in January of 2018.

Source: John Loeffler for Interesting Engineering, via BusinessInsider

The rise and fall and rise of Bitcoin value raise a lot of questions about the cryptocurrency. The fundamentals of the currency haven't changed, so it's understandable that many may be looking at its sudden price rise as more evidence that cryptocurrencies are unreliable speculative investments.

On December 13 2016, Bitcoin was selling at $784.30. The price started building quickly over 2017, reaching $3,433 on September 15 2017, after which it soared over the next three months, closing at its all-time high on December 17 2017, Bitcoin was selling at $19,783.21 or more than 2500% its value just 12 months earlier.

The bottom started falling out shortly after that as speculative investors sought to realize their gains, cutting more than $8,000 off its value in just over a month, closing at $11,553.39 on January 19, 2018. The party now most definitely over, Bitcoin's value fell again by close to half, closing at $6,821 on April 1, 2018, eventually reaching its lowest price since the boom almost exactly one year later, closing at $3,254.78 on December 16, 2018.

Since then, it had spent the first quarter hovering in the three-to-four-thousand range, jumping to nearly $5,000 in the beginning of April, where it hovered until the beginning of May when it started to climb again. Since then, it has doubled in value in just under two months.

Is this the start of another round of speculator-driven investment that will collapse just as soon as the last time around? It could, it has happened before after all, and there's nothing about Bitcoin this time around that's all that different than last time. Facebook's entry into the market for cryptocurrencies does shake things up, however, adding a certain about of industrial strength to cryptocurrency that Bitcoin and others didn't enjoy last time around. But major investment banks with more financial industry savvy than Facebook have also been involved in expanding cryptocurrency portfolios, and this hasn't driven sudden spikes in price.

What makes Facebook's involvement in cryptocurrencies more valuable than Goldman Sachs' isn't clear at all. In fact, Facebook's involvement could easily be seen as a negative, given that Facebook is currently under an enormous amount of scrutiny from regulators in both the US and Europe over its privacy practices and issues with its user data.

If you had a stake in cryptocurrencies, probably the last thing you'd want is for Facebook to get involved and muddy-up the crypto-waters. Cryptocurrencies already face enough scrutiny from world governments, hitching their wagon to Facebook as well only makes that problem worse.

Regardless, it remains to be seen if these valuations will last. If past performance is any guide, then we should know in about a month or two as people will either be lamenting that they didn't get in on this whole Bitcoin thing when they had the chance, or they'll be shaking their head at the latest round of poor saps who took out loans to go all in on Bitcoin the day it started collapsing in price.

 

By John Loeffler

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

The cryptocurrency gains 13 per cent from previous close HONG KONG, JUNE 24 Bitcoin traded above $11,000 for the first time in 15 months, recouping more than half of the parabolic increase that captured the attention of mainstream investors before the cr

The cryptocurrency gains 13 per cent from previous close HONG KONG, JUNE 24 Bitcoin traded above $11,000 for the first time in 15 months, recouping more than half of the parabolic increase that captured the attention of mainstream investors before the cryptocurrency bubble burst last year. The bounce-back of Bitcoin has been fairly extraordinary, said George McDonaugh, chief executive and co-founder of London-based blockchain and cryptocurrency investment firm KR1 Plc. Money didn't leave the asset behind, it just sat on the sidelines waiting to get back in. Bitcoin surged as high as $11,251.21 on Monday, a 13 per cent gain from late Friday that put it at the highest levels since March 2018. It was at $10,815 as of 7:10 am in Hong Kong. The largest cryptocurrency had a furious run higher in late 2017 that culminated with a top above $19,500, before an almost-as-relentless move downward over much of 2018. It languished around the $3,300 to $4,100 range for several months. Bitcoin's ride back accelerated in April, puzzling onlookers trying to pinpoint a reason for the surge. A study by Indexica, an alternative data provider, showed three main drivers: a more complex conversation surrounding Bitcoin, fewer concerns about fraud and a shift in the tense of how Bitcoin is talked about from the past to the future. The market has matured greatly since the last time Bitcoin crossed $10,000, said Matt Greenspan, a senior market analyst at eToro. This run is far more justified given the current level of adoption. In contrast with last year, there are now signs of renewed mainstream interest in cryptocurrencies and the underlying blockchain technology, most prominently Facebook's Libra. The social-media giant is working with a broad group of partners from Visa Inc. to Uber Technologies Inc. to develop the system, which has already attracted attention and criticism from politicians raising privacy and security concerns. Also read: Facebook unveils new cryptocurrency Libra The advent of Libra is validating the crypto space and sending all the major digital coins higher, said Edward Moya, chief market strategist at Oanda Corp. in New York. Bitcoin volatility is likely to persist, with $12,000 and $15,000 as the next two critical resistance levels. Still, the speed of the rally has some observers warning caution is once again warranted. To Whitney Tilson, founder of Empire Financial Research and a former hedge-fund manager, Bitcoin is exhibit A in the lexicon of scams that enrich insiders at the expense of average folks. Don't get fooled by the dead-cat bounce this year, Tilson said in comments last week. Mark my words: A year from now, it will be a lot lower. This is a techno-libertarian pump-and-dump scheme that will end in ruin. Published on June 24, 2019

Bitcoin climbs above $11,000

The cryptocurrency gains 13 per cent from previous close

HONG KONG, JUNE 24

Bitcoin traded above $11,000 for the first time in 15 months, recouping more than half of the parabolic increase that captured the attention of mainstream investors before the cryptocurrency bubble burst last year.

The bounce-back of Bitcoin has been fairly extraordinary, said George McDonaugh, chief executive and co-founder of London-based blockchain and cryptocurrency investment firm KR1 Plc. Money didn’t leave the asset behind, it just sat on the sidelines waiting to get back in.

Bitcoin surged as high as $11,251.21 on Monday, a 13 per cent gain from late Friday that put it at the highest levels since March 2018. It was at $10,815 as of 7:10 am in Hong Kong. The largest cryptocurrency had a furious run higher in late 2017 that culminated with a top above $19,500, before an almost-as-relentless move downward over much of 2018. It languished around the $3,300 to $4,100 range for several months.

Bitcoin’s ride back accelerated in April, puzzling onlookers trying to pinpoint a reason for the surge. A study by Indexica, an alternative data provider, showed three main drivers: a more complex conversation surrounding Bitcoin, fewer concerns about fraud and a shift in the tense of how Bitcoin is talked about from the past to the future.

The market has matured greatly since the last time Bitcoin crossed $10,000, said Matt Greenspan, a senior market analyst at eToro. This run is far more justified given the current level of adoption.

In contrast with last year, there are now signs of renewed mainstream interest in cryptocurrencies and the underlying blockchain technology, most prominently Facebook’s Libra. The social-media giant is working with a broad group of partners from Visa Inc. to Uber Technologies Inc. to develop the system, which has already attracted attention and criticism from politicians raising privacy and security concerns.

The advent of Libra is validating the crypto space and sending all the major digital coins higher, said Edward Moya, chief market strategist at Oanda Corp. in New York. Bitcoin volatility is likely to persist, with $12,000 and $15,000 as the next two critical resistance levels.

Still, the speed of the rally has some observers warning caution is once again warranted. To Whitney Tilson, founder of Empire Financial Research and a former hedge-fund manager, Bitcoin is exhibit A in the lexicon of scams that enrich insiders at the expense of average folks.

Don’t get fooled by the dead-cat bounce this year, Tilson said in comments last week. Mark my words: A year from now, it will be a lot lower. This is a techno-libertarian pump-and-dump scheme that will end in ruin.

 

Published on June 24, 2019

Hindu Business Line

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

The Real Reason Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple’s XRP, And Litecoin Suddenly Rocketed?

The Real Reason Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple's XRP, And Litecoin Suddenly Rocketed?

The Real Reason Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple's XRP, And Litecoin Suddenly Rocketed?

Bitcoin, ethereum, Ripple's XRP, and litecoin suddenly rocketed this weekend, with the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, bitcoin, shooting past the psychological $10,000 per bitcoin mark to highs of $11,200 on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange.

Ethereum, Ripple's XRP, and litecoin all made double-digit gains, meanwhile, with the sudden push higher causing many to recall the great bitcoin and cryptocurrency bull run of late 2017 which saw the bitcoin price go from $10,000 per bitcoin to almost $20,000 in under 20 days.

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency analysts have been closely looking for the cause of the sudden price spike, which added some $30 billion to the total value of the world's cryptocurrencies over just two days, with Facebook's potential rival to bitcoin and next year's bitcoin halvening event two commonly named potential catalysts.

However, the bitcoin price spike has been led by India, with bitcoin trading at a $500 premium on the few remaining local exchanges as the government cracks down on internet services such as messaging app Telegram and news aggregator Reddit.

Earlier this month, an Indian government panel reportedly recommended banning bitcoin, which it branded a Ponzi scheme, and a blanket ban on the sale, purchase, and issuance of cryptocurrencies in the country.

Though the panel recommended banning bitcoin, some in the country are skeptical about its implementation, pointing to a previous recommendation that never came to pass.

However, India, under prime minister Narendra Modi, has had an unconventional approach to monetary policy, with the government plunging the country into chaos in 2016 by suddenly banning some higher value bank notes.

Some also think that Facebook's planned cryptocurrency has given legitimacy to bitcoin and other decentralized cryptocurrencies, making it more difficult for India to justify a complete ban.

"The panel report held weight before Facebook announced its plans. The tech giant launching a similar currency provides some sense of legitimacy,” Nischal Shetty, chief executive of Indian cryptocurrency exchange WaxirX told Quartz, a business news outlet.

"If Facebook is going to come up with this, then other tech companies may follow suit. It is hard to believe the government will say that such big companies are also into a Ponzi scheme."

Attempts to ban bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, decentralized internet services which are naturally resilient to censorship, could have a Streisand effect, proving the need for them and making people more aware they exist.

Meanwhile, analysts and trading experts believe Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency could give bitcoin a further boost and potentially push it back to the heady days of late 2017.

"Bullish investors believe if Facebook's crypto Libra becomes a trusted payment mechanism then people are also more likely to trust bitcoin as a reliable long-term store of value, a digital gold," said Glen Goodman, author of bitcoin and cryptocurrency trading advice book, The Crypto Trader.

"Many traders will be looking to take some profits off the table now, but it's worth remembering that last time bitcoin's price broke through $10,000 it then hit it's all-time high of nearly $20,000 just 16 days later."

 

 

Billy Bambrough

 

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Bitcoin Skyrockets To $11,000 – How High Can It Go From Here? BTC Price Analysis & Weekly Overview

Bitcoin Skyrockets To $11,000 - How High Can It Go From Here? BTC Price Analysis & Weekly Overview

Bitcoin Skyrockets To $11,000 – How High Can It Go From Here? BTC Price Analysis & Weekly Overview

 

The most famous cryptocurrency does it again: Just four months ago Bitcoin was trading close to $3000, and now – close to $11,000.

Bitcoin managed to survive drops of more than 80% in its value successfully. Not only survive but overcome and become even stronger than before. Such strength we could have seen during the past three months, following the breakout of the $4,000 zone.

The $11,000 area was the target given to Bitcoin in our analysis from just two days ago. Another thing to note is the action during the weekends. Bitcoin whales plan their action to the weekends, and it’s not a coincidence that the breakout took place when most of the world is off to start another weekend.
 

Total Market Cap: $322.8 Billion (crossed $300 Billion!)

Bitcoin Market Cap: $190.8 Billion

BTC Dominance: 59.1%

Looking at the 1-day & 4-hour charts

– Support/Resistance:

Looking at the daily chart, we can see Bitcoin’s breakout of the upper ascending trend-line (out of the three lines, marked in orange). However, the longer-term weekly chart tells a different story, as the $11,000 serves as a robust resistance level.

Since the coin hadn’t seen a significant correction since the $7500 area, and the fact that Bitcoin is in the middle of yet another parabolic move, at the time when a correction will take place – it will hurt, however, till then you better not disturb the bulls. Anything that goes 3x in three months is unexpected and volatile, to both sides.

Now the closest resistance lies at $11,000. In case that this zone gets broken above, the next significant resistance area is around $11,500 – $11,600, which is the high from February 2018. Further above lies $12,000.

From below, Bitcoin had crossed $10,000 like it was nothing. The nearest levels of support lie at $10,600, $10,200 and $10,000. Below 5 digits is the $9600 – $9700 support area, $9400, $9000 and $8800.

– Daily chart’s RSI: The RSI also broke out above 70 and now facing the 80 level. However, one concern is the divergence in the RSI, both daily and weekly charts. To see the bullish momentum continue, the RSI needs to follow Bitcoin’s price chart in creating higher highs. Another thing to note is that Stochastic RSI of the daily chart is stretched out to the overbought area.

– Trading Volume: The volume is still not record breaking, yet. This is according to the divergence in the RSI. However, this could be due to the fact that it’s partly weekend.

– BitFinex open short positions: Just as expected, the open short positions are gaining momentum along with the rising Bitcoin. There are now 28.8 K BTC of open short positions. This is their highest level since May 11.

BTC/USD BitStamp 4-Hour Chart

BTC/USD BitStamp 1-Day Chart

 

AUTHOR: YUVAL GOV LAST UPDATED ON JUN 22, 2019 @ 09:14 UTC

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden